1 Game Profile

1.1 Estimated Outcomes on BGG

This table displays the selected game’s current values on four BGG outcomes (UsersRated, Average, GeekRating, Weight) along with my predictive model(s) estimated values for where these games are likely to end up.

Published	ID	Name	Type	UserRatings	Average	GeekRating	Weight
2022	328866	My Father's Work	Current	43	7.92	5.54	3.38
			Estimated	600	7.29	5.95	3.16

To see more information about the game on boardgamegeek, click on the game’s ID or Name to go straight to the game’s profile page.

1.2 Game Description

Description
The walls were lined with iron shelves, each metal slat overfilled with glass jars containing formaldehyde and grotesque curiosities within. Pristine brass tools and refined metals of a quality I had never before laid eyes upon were strewn across sturdy slabs of rock and wood, their edges sharp with use. However, my eyes were soon drawn to a sturdy writing desk, its mahogany eaves inlaid with thin strips of copper, the center of which contained a well-worn leather-bound book. My father's journal — passed down to me and representing years of knowledge and countless experiments. And inside that weathered tome, atop the pearly parchment oxidized yellow at its frayed edges, were the deliberate quill marks of a crazed genius outlining the ambitious project he could never complete in one lifetime — his masterwork. Without realizing it, my hands were shaking as I clutched the book to my chest. At once, I felt an ownership and anxiety for the scientific sketches scrawled so eloquently on those frayed sheets. It was at that moment that I began my obsession: I would restore this laboratory to its former brilliance and dedicate my life to completing my father's work! In My Father's Work, players are competing mad scientists entrusted with a page from their father's journal and a large estate in which to perform their devious experiments. Players earn points by completing experiments, aiding the town in its endeavors, upgrading their macabre estates, and hopefully completing their father's masterwork. But they have to balance study and active experimentation because at the end of each generation, all of their experiments and resources are lost to time until their child begins again with only the "Journaled Knowledge and Estate" they have willed to them — and since the game is played over the course of three generations, it is inevitable that the players will rouse the townsfolk to form angry mobs or spiral into insanity from the ethically dubious works they have created. The player with the most points at the end of three generations wins and becomes the most revered, feared, ingenious scientist the world has ever known! —description from the publisher

1.3 Game Information

Information on the game’s designers, artists, families, mechanics and categories from BGG.

For the full profile of the selected game, click on the links in the table or go to https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/328866

1.4 Explaining Predictions

For each of the predictions above, I used models that were trained on historical boardgamegeek data in order to predict the selected game. How did the model(s) arrive at their predictions? The following plot displays Shapley values to indicate what features were most influential for the model’s predictions. Anything in blue increased the model’s predictions, anything in red decreased the model’s predictions.

2 Finding Similar Games

What games are similar to My Father’s Work? I compare the selected game to every other game on boardgamegeek based on its mechanics, playing time, complexity, and game type. The tables below display the games which had the most similar data to My Father’s Work. The reported similarity is the cosine similarity between the selected game and all other games published before 2021.

This similarity score ranges from -1 to 1, where similarity of 1 indicates that games are exactly identical (a game will have a score of 1 with itself).

Note: This analysis does not look at a game’s ratings on BGG, publisher, artist, or designer - it focuses on finding similar games based on how they play, not how they are rated or by their theme.

2.1 Most Similar Games

The table below displays games with the most similar data to My Father’s Work. Click on a game’s ID or Name to go straight to its profile on boardgamegeek.

Rank	Published	ID	Name	Similarity	GeekRating	Average	Weight	UserRatings
--	2022	328866	My Father's Work	1.00	5.54	7.92	3.16	43
1	2006	24480	The Pillars of the Earth	0.99	7.09	7.28	2.82	16,978
2	2015	171662	Neanderthal	0.90	6.35	7.32	3.74	1,589
3	2020	317985	Beyond the Sun	0.88	7.48	8.02	3.10	6,681
4	2018	257067	Magnastorm	0.83	5.92	6.81	3.07	868
5	2017	191051	Outlive	0.82	6.72	7.34	3.00	4,043
6	2013	137269	Spyrium	0.82	6.70	7.06	2.90	6,017
7	2015	179350	Bretagne	0.81	5.75	6.70	3.41	476
8	2020	326408	Una Questione di Voto	0.81	5.47	4.42	2.20	32
9	2008	38980	Mecanisburgo	0.81	5.64	6.55	3.74	295
10	2007	31594	In the Year of the Dragon	0.80	7.08	7.33	3.10	11,323
11	2014	125050	Pay Dirt	0.79	5.85	6.72	2.57	701
12	2013	135243	Triassic Terror	0.79	5.96	6.93	2.87	853
13	2019	287941	Formosa Tea	0.78	5.94	7.49	3.39	503
14	2019	239472	Abomination: The Heir of Frankenstein	0.78	6.57	7.50	3.25	2,199
15	2015	179918	The Producer: 1940-1944	0.78	5.54	6.03	3.65	150
16	2019	210296	DinoGenics	0.78	6.63	7.68	2.90	2,009
17	2013	143782	Global Mogul	0.77	5.67	6.97	3.40	235
18	2016	187785	Glenn Drover's Empires: Galactic Rebellion	0.77	5.55	6.39	3.29	145
19	2020	300944	Gates of Mara	0.77	5.55	7.17	3.00	61
20	2010	42052	Vinhos	0.77	6.92	7.48	4.21	4,636
21	2019	252542	The Romans	0.77	5.60	7.12	3.00	113
22	2019	228959	Alubari: A Nice Cup of Tea	0.76	6.13	7.27	3.08	985
23	2020	275974	Margraves of Valeria	0.76	5.90	7.67	2.61	406
24	1988	5231	Orcwars	0.76	5.51	5.81	2.25	53
25	2015	172385	Porta Nigra	0.76	6.43	7.18	2.99	2,136

Click on the ID or Name for any game to go its profile page on boardgamegeek.

2.2 Most Similar, Highly Rated Games

What games are similar to My Father’s Work while also being highly rated by the boardgamegeek community? In this table I multiply every neighboring game’s similarity score by its GeekRating. The resulting score is an attempt to balance these two quantities.

Rank	Published	ID	Name	Score	Similarity	GeekRating	Average	Weight	UserRatings
--	2022	328866	My Father's Work	5.54	1.00	5.54	7.92	3.16	43
1	2006	24480	The Pillars of the Earth	7.05	0.99	7.09	7.28	2.82	16,978
2	2020	317985	Beyond the Sun	6.55	0.88	7.48	8.02	3.10	6,681
3	2013	144733	Russian Railroads	5.71	0.76	7.52	7.76	3.41	16,244
4	2007	31594	In the Year of the Dragon	5.69	0.80	7.08	7.33	3.10	11,323
5	2015	171662	Neanderthal	5.69	0.90	6.35	7.32	3.74	1,589
6	2017	191051	Outlive	5.50	0.82	6.72	7.34	3.00	4,043
7	2013	137269	Spyrium	5.48	0.82	6.70	7.06	2.90	6,017
8	2011	102680	Trajan	5.46	0.73	7.51	7.76	3.65	15,906
9	2007	22545	Age of Empires III: The Age of Discovery	5.44	0.76	7.20	7.53	3.13	10,013
10	2014	161970	Alchemists	5.41	0.73	7.44	7.66	3.91	20,115
11	2010	42052	Vinhos	5.34	0.77	6.92	7.48	4.21	4,636
12	2016	176734	The Manhattan Project: Energy Empire	5.24	0.73	7.20	7.78	3.05	5,342
13	2016	203993	Lorenzo il Magnifico	5.17	0.69	7.53	7.88	3.30	11,296
14	2019	210296	DinoGenics	5.16	0.78	6.63	7.68	2.90	2,009
15	2019	239472	Abomination: The Heir of Frankenstein	5.14	0.78	6.57	7.50	3.25	2,199
16	2011	50750	Belfort	5.09	0.75	6.83	7.23	3.05	6,148
17	2013	144592	Bruxelles 1893	4.95	0.70	7.08	7.64	3.59	5,067
18	2013	139898	Brew Crafters	4.92	0.74	6.70	7.43	3.57	2,960
19	2015	172385	Porta Nigra	4.90	0.76	6.43	7.18	2.99	2,136
20	2018	257067	Magnastorm	4.90	0.83	5.92	6.81	3.07	868
21	2012	119432	Snowdonia	4.80	0.70	6.86	7.36	3.00	4,764
22	2015	173442	Empires: Age of Discovery	4.79	0.71	6.77	7.86	3.34	2,070
23	2017	234277	Nusfjord	4.73	0.67	7.09	7.65	2.86	5,221
24	2014	160495	ZhanGuo	4.71	0.69	6.80	7.57	3.83	3,029
25	2019	242684	Reavers of Midgard	4.70	0.71	6.58	7.45	2.91	2,302

2.3 Why Are Games Considered Similar?

I first ran a dimension reduction method (PCA) to identify the main points of variation for games on BGG. The first 25 components explained roughly 50% of the overall variation in the dataset, so I computed the cosine similarity between every game’s score on these 25 components.

2.3.1 Plotting All Games

The following plot shows every game on BGG plotted on the first two principal components of variation. I then highlight where the selected game and its nearest neighbors fall on these first two components.

2.3.2 Game Profiles

Similarity scores are based on 25 principal components - the next table displays the selected game and its neighbors profiles on each of these components.

2.3.3 Examining Components

What are these components? The following plot shows which features contribute the most to each component.

Published	ID	Name	Publisher(s)	Designer(s)	Artist(s)	Categories	Families	Mechanics
2022	328866	My Father's Work	Renegade Game Studios	T. C. Petty III	Anh Le Art	Horror	Admin: Upcoming Releases	Events
			Origames		Cold Castle Studios		Components: Digital Hybrid – App/Website Required	Worker Placement
					Eric Hibbeler		Components: Game Trayz Inside
					Damien Mammoliti		Components: Miniatures
					Janos Orban		Crowdfunding: Kickstarter
							Organizations: Game Designers of North Carolina
							Theme: Mad Science / Mad Scientist

Individual Game Analysis